Louise is 101 but first to vote

Louise Phelan may be 101, but she was quick out of the traps to cast her referendum vote.

“I think I was the first one here. I did my best for the country,” she said after her trip to the polling station in Loughrea.

She left the Galway town aged 19 — when the voting age was still 21 — and spent 15 years in the US, mostly in New York, followed by more than 40 years in London.

Her job was a passementerie worker, making tassels and other elaborate trimmings, much of her work being for theatre costumes. Productions of My Fair Lady and Dr Zhivago were among her accolades in New York, and Omar Sharif was one of the many famous actors she was lucky enough to meet in her work there.

“He used to come in quite a bit to get fitted. He would teach us bridge,” she said.

While in London, she met her husband, John. One of their daughters, Pat, a retired physiotherapist, is currently visiting Louise with her husband.

Louise and John returned to Ireland in 1986 but he passed away shortly after the move to Loughrea where she has lived since.

“I go down the town every day and get the paper and pick up a few bits and pieces. They usually deliver everything, I couldn’t carry it, I have enough to do just to carry myself,” she joked.

She puts her longevity and good health down to hard work — and the occasional sherry.

She also tries to keep in touch with what’s going on in the world of politics, but says she has no favourites. And asked if she would like to say which side of the referendum debate she decided to support, she replied: “I voted yes. Whether it’s right or wrong, I think we haven’t any choice.”